Editor’s note: As Loma Linda University Health continues a massive construction project to build the new Medical Center and Children’s Hospital towers, the chaplains invite members of the campus to pray and fast each Tuesday, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom as we continue to grow. Below is a devotional from a series in News of the Week based on the biblical book of Nehemiah, in which Nehemiah faced a massive building project of his own.
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Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies.–Nehemiah 7:5
Summer is fully upon us in the Inland Empire. It has come with sweltering heat and humidity, which drive us to the beach, pool or inside air-conditioned spaces. This season also heralds a time for vacation and family reunions. Our family tree provides us with vignettes of who we are and where we come from.
I am often reminded through my interactions with people that we are shaped by our experiences with our families of origin, communities and perceptions. I only have to look within my own family to see how the choices of my parents, and both sets of grandparents, have impacted or influenced the manner in which I relate to God and others.
In the unfolding story captured in the biblical book of Nehemiah we find the governor ordering a census to be taken to record the genealogy of the returned exiles from Babylon. It is important to note that the construing of a genealogy is not exciting or scintillating. Most of us would confess that we would typically skim through such lists, while there a few who would also admit they find these same lists of names rather fascinating. Whichever camp you may find yourself in does not remove the 67 verses from chapter seven of Nehemiah.
The keeping of the records served as a method of establishing and preserving the allotment of land; preserving the hereditary of the priesthood; maintaining the right of royal succession from the Davidic lineage and the imposition of military duty.
Nehemiah indicates that the initiative to compile the names of all the people who had returned was inspired by God. It was important for this group who would now occupy the city with its new wall to remember who their forbearers were and also reflect on how Yahweh had always kept His promises.
Remembering “whom” we come from is essential to maintaining the ethos of Loma Linda University Health. We are here in this region because of our commitment to caring for the mind, body and spirit with our many strengths and one mission.
Each of us who makes up the approximately 15,000 employees of Loma Linda University Health is a part of a story that began over 111 years ago. When was the last time, or perhaps, the better question could be, have you ever viewed the many genealogies that hang on walls in our various buildings? Are you familiar with all of the people who have believed and worked to forward the mission of our organization? Perhaps we all should review them, often, especially when the heat has us hunkered down in our buildings. If we don’t remember where we have come from we may find ourselves far from serving the mission of our organization or, worse, creating an environment that stymies our growth.
Remind me of this with every decision
Generations will reap what I sow
I can pass on a curse or a blessing
To those I will never know.
–“Generations” by Sara Grove, 2001
Dilys Brooks, MDiv
Associate campus chaplain
Loma Linda University